Canon Launches Try and Buy Programme For Lenses

Canon
Credit: Canon Singapore

Canon announced this last week. I apologize that it got forgotten in the days of the announcement of Canon’s new Rebel Sl1/EOS 100D (price & specs) and Rebel T5i/EOS 700D (price & specs).

Canon will start a lens rental service called “try and buy”. There is also a homepage (http://www.canon.com.sg/lenstryandbuy) with all the information that is planned to go alive on March 28th.

Canon Singapore press release:

Singapore, 20 March 2013 – Canon is now allowing its DSLR users to try out popular Canon lenses before purchasing them in the newly launched Canon Lens “Try and Buy” Programme. The programme, which is the first of its kind in Singapore1 for a camera brand, will be starting from 28 March. For a nominal fee, interested users will get up to two full days to try out their lenses of choice.

“We believe in having our customers fully enjoy our products and technology, and our Canon Lens “Try and Buy” Programme will further enhance that product experience of our DSLR users by providing them with a platform to try out the more popular lenses before a purchase,” said Mr. Andrew Koh, Senior Director and General Manager of the Consumer Imaging and Information Products Group, Canon Singapore.

The Canon Lens “Try and Buy” Programme is an initiative by the company to enable its DSLR users to try selected lenses for up to two days and make an informed decision before investing in the perfect lens to suit them. This programme will be extremely useful for users who are deciding between the different lenses in Canon’s comprehensive range of more than 70 EF and EF-S lenses. While there is no obligation to make a purchase subsequently, Canon believes that this programme will also attract new users to its award-winning EOS photographic eco-system.

Canon Lens “Try and Buy” Programme

  • Canon DSLR users2 can borrow selected Canon lenses for up to two full days (Excluding pick-up and return dates).
  • At any one time, users can borrow a maximum of two lenses on a first-come-first-serve basis.
  • Participants of the programme who wish to own the lens model they have tried can enjoy a discount on the purchase of the extended warranty for the same lens model. The discount is equivalent to the nominal fee charged when they borrowed the lens.
  • All Canon Imaging Academy members who have enrolled themselves in any paid course/workshop within the last 12 months will receive a 50% discount off the nominal fee. Members who enrolled for future paid course/workshop will also get to enjoy 50% discount if they participate in the programme within 12 months from the start date of their course/workshop.
  • Registration and membership for this programme is free.
  • Lenses can be collected and returned at the Canon Imaging Academy, Canon’s training facility (Located at 1 HarbourFront Place, #01-09, HarbourFront Tower 1, Singapore 098633).
  • The programme will be administered directly by Canon Singapore while the sale of lenses will continue to be through Canon’s authorised dealers.

For full details including terms and condition of the programme, please visit the Canon Lens “Try and Buy” website www.canon.com.sg/lenstryandbuy (Website targets to be up on 28 March). Users can also go to the website for more information such as the most popular lenses borrowed, the most viewed lenses, and new lenses included in the programme.

About Canon Singapore Pte Ltd
Canon is a global leader in photographic and digital imaging solutions. Canon Singapore Pte Ltd is the headquarters for South & Southeast Asia driving sales, marketing and service strategies. Besides handling the domestic market, the company leads 18 other countries including subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Thailand and a representative office in Vietnam. The parent company Canon Inc. has a global network of more than 200 companies and employs more than 160,000 people worldwide. It is dedicated to the advancement in technology and innovation and commits about 10% of its total revenue each year to R&D. Canon is consistently one of the top few companies to earn the most number of patents over the last 18 years. As a Fortune Global 500 company, Canon is guided by its kyosei philosophy that focuses on living and working together for the common good.

More information is available at www.canon.com.sg

1 As of 20 March 2013

2Applicable only to Singaporeans, permanent residents (PRs), and work permit or student visa holders in Singapore.

[c|net via PetaPixel]

New Canon Big Megapixel DSLR Rumor Tidbit

It surfaces again and again, the high megapixel DSLR Canon is said to work on. There have been other rumors about this in the past, as well as a supposed announcement date in September 2013suggested by the usually well informed Nippon Magazine.

The new big megapixel rumor also suggests an announcement date around September or October, and a general availability in the first quarter of 2014. Moreover, it is murmured there are at least two prototypes bodies out in the wild. It appears Canon is testing different sensors with different resolutions. Word is about a sensor over 50 MP, and about other working prototypes with 39MP and 47MP resolution.

Finally, it is also said that some of the technology that is expected to be featured on the Canon EOS 7D Mark II will also be sported on the mighty big megapixel DSLR.

Hard to say what is going on with the big megapixel DSLR we suppose Canon is developing. I have always been told that it will be a 47MP sensor and that it will come in an EOS-1 shaped body, but it is more than plausible that Canon is testing out various sensor before taking the decision which one to use on such a camera.

[NL via CR]

 

More Canon Rebel SL1/EOS 100 And Rebel T5i/EOS 700D Previews And First Impression

Let’s go for another round of Rebel Sl1/EOS 100D (price & specs) and Rebel T5i/EOS 700D (price & specs) previews round-up. Scroll down if you are looking for the pre-order links

Letsgodigital has some Rebel SL1/EOS 100D sample pics for you to check. DxOmark preview about the the world’s smallest and lightest DSLR, the Canon EOS SL1/EOS100D, can be read here. Hands-on at PopPhoto. Another preview at Camera Lab, they write:

Despite the reduction in size and weight, the EOS SL1 / 100D still feels like a solid camera with similar construction and toughness to Canon’s other consumer DSLRs. The body is built from aluminium alloy and polycarbonate resin with carbon and glass fiber. The grip is squashed down compared to earlier Canon DSLRs with a repositioned shutter release as a result, but it’s still comparable to the experience with most mirror-less cameras

Pocket-lint has a good hands-on on the Rebel SL1/EOS 100D, called a “clever engineering project”. Quoting:

The 100D’s cut-back size has been achieved by a number of processes: Canon’s totally redesigned the shutter mechanism, as well as the sensor module which, despite offering the same exposed APS-C area, is considerably smaller thanks to shrinking down its surrounding components – the sensor module has also been made thinner. […]

There’s a 9-point autofocus system with one cross-type sensor […] that’s super fast in operation and gives confirmatory, light-up feedback in the optical viewfinder. The diamond arrangement of the focus points covers a decent portion of the 95 per cent field-of-view 0.87x magnification finder – there’s little compromise here in terms of size either.

More first impression about the Canon Rebel SL1/EOS 100D: Digital Camera Info, Gizmodo, LetsGoDigital, Photography Blog, TechRadar, Electronista, The Phoblographer, Canon Japan published sample images and sample videos. Finally, the preorder links:

While most of the hype is around the Rebel SL1/EOS 100D, the new Canon Rebel T5i/EOS 700D didn’t get forgotten. Let us start with a promotional video by Canon.

More Rebel t5i/EOS 700D test pictures at LetsGoDigital, Rebel T5i/EOS 700D preview at Camera Labs, DxOMark‘s thoughts about the T5i/700D. At EOSHD they say that both Rebels “failed to excite”. More Rebel t5i/EOS 700D hands-on: Digital Camera Info, TechRadar, Slashgear, Photography Blog, LetsGoDigital, The Phoblographer, Canon Japan published sample images and sample videos. Pre-order links for the Rebel T5i/EOS 700D:

Rebel SL1/EOS 100D

Deals: New Canon EOS 7D For $945, Refurbished EOS 60D kit For $799.95, And EOS 6D For $1650

EOS 7D

Rakuten has brand new Canon EOS 7D bodies for just $945 (click here), offer expires 3/25.

Next, Adorama has refurbished Canon EOS 60D kits with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens for $799.95 (click here). There is more refurbished Canon gear on sale at Adorama (click here)

Finally, top rated plus eBay seller getitdigital (>40000 ratings, 99.6% positive) has Canon EOS 6D bodies for [shoplink 11300 ebay]$1649.99 (click here)[/shoplink].

[shoplink 11300 ebay][/shoplink]

 

A Bit Of Everything

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Canon Adds New Social Integration And Management Tools To Project 1709

Press release:

United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, 20 March 2013 – Canon has updated its Project 1709 beta, introducing version 1.1 that offers users the option of full Flickr integration, as well as new management and organisation features.
Project 1709 Project 1709

Project 1709 version 1.1 now makes it possible to publish images and comments directly to Flickr from within the Project 1709 interface, as well as to pull in images already stored on Flickr, allowing users to enjoy their photographs from an even wider range of social networks.

A series of enhanced functions and management tools have also been added providing greater flexibility to manage and organise images. Project 1709 now includes the ability to edit file names, rotate and delete images and create albums, along with improved search functionality, allowing users to filter images by ‘All’ and ‘Any’ tags.

These new features and functionalities have been added to Project 1709 following feedback and requests from photography enthusiasts who have joined the beta programme since its launch at Photokina in September 2012. Canon will continue development of the service in the run up to a full public launch in 2013.

Consumers interested in participating in the beta can register at www.Project1709.com

Project 1709 – key features

  • Store a lifetime of your images
  • Find any image when you need it
  • Access all your photos anytime, everywhere
  • Enjoy and make the most of your photos
  • Improve your photos to make them the best they can be